City asks to rezone University City land for park-and-ride station

CHARLOTTE – When the city’s light rail trains finally crawl north by 2017, planning officials are hoping there will be a park-and-ride station at J.W. Clay Boulevard, the proposed second-to-last stop.

That’s the goal of a rezoning petition filed by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Department. The petition asks to rezone a 2.4-acre tract of land at J.W. Clay Boulevard and North Tryon Street from a general business zoning to a transit-oriented zoning classification.

Andy Mock, project manager with the Charlotte Area Transit System, said there were three businesses on the property when the city bought it on Sept. 26. Two of those, Panda Express and Nona’s Bakery, have moved. The third, Honey Baked Ham, is moving in April, Mock said.

“I wouldn’t expect there to be any issues in getting this rezoning,” he said. “We own the land, and we’ve moved the tenants out.

“There hasn’t been any pushback on this rezoning (request).”

Construction on the Blue Line extension is to start in 2014, with the line projected to be fully operational by 2017. The extension will run from Seventh Street, in uptown, to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

The City Council will have a public hearing on the rezoning request at 6 p.m. on April 15 in the meeting chamber at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center.